Chapter 3 Part 3  Water Baptism  

            Matt. 3:5 "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."  Obviously from the above we gather that many people went out to John in wilderness and were baptized of John in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

            John, at that time, was the only man on earth who had the authority to baptize with water baptism.  This is proven by the following scripture: Matt. 21:23 "And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? 24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? 26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. 27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things."  The Lord plainly tells us that John's authority to baptize came from God.  God sent John to baptize and Jesus later walked approximately sixty miles one way to the only person on earth who had that authority to be baptized of John. 

            In addition we read in Luke 7:29 "And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him."  This passage also shows that at that time John was the only one who had the authority to baptize.

            Later the Lord authorized the apostles and others that were properly ordained to baptize with water baptism:

            1.  Mark 3:14 "And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach."

            2.  John 4:1 "When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)"

            Peter tells us of the purpose of water baptism in 1 Peter 3:21 "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."  Water baptism does not put away the filth of the flesh (sin), but it is the answer of our conscience that is made good (by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus) to the call to serve the Lord.  Baptism shows forth the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Chapter 3 Part 4   Fruit Bearing 

Matt. 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

            The Pharisees and the Sadducees had come to be baptized of John for the wrong reason.  John said, "Who hath warned you to flee the wrath to come?"  They had come for the purpose of fleeing the wrath to come.  They were under the misconception that if they were baptized they would be exempt from the wrath to come.  Water baptism does not exempt someone from eternal wrath, but rather shows forth the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that we are delivered from our sins.  Deliverance from sin is not a works system.  We are not delivered from our sins by being baptized in water.  Rather water baptism gives glory to God for his having delivered us from our sins. 

            John also called these Pharisees and Sadducees a generation of vipers.  This may seem like harsh words, but certainly, it described the nature of those Pharisees and Sadducees who were coming to John demanding water baptism.  A viper is a poisonous serpent.  These Pharisees and Sadducees were bearing forth the nature of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.  John told them to bring forth fruits meet for repentance.  John went on to say that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. 

            There are only two kinds of trees in the world, good trees and evil trees.  The following three passages of scripture tells us about these two types of trees:

            1.  Matt. 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

            2.  Luke 6:43 "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."

            3.  Gal. 5:19 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

            From the above we make the following observations:

            1.  A good tree can only bear good fruit.

            2.  An evil tree can only bear corrupt fruit.

            3.  If the fruit we see is good fruit, then it must come from a good tree.

            4.  If the fruit we see is corrupt fruit, then it must come from an evil tree.

            5.  The works of the flesh is corrupt fruit, therefore, it comes from an evil tree (flesh).

            6.  The fruits of the spirit are good fruit, therefore, they come from a good tree (spirit).

            7.  Therefore, the flesh cannot bring forth good fruit.

            8.  Similarly, the spirit cannot bring forth corrupt fruit.

            9.  Man that is not born of the Spirit has only one nature and that is a flesh nature.  He can only bring forth wicked works.

            10. Man that is born of the Spirit has two natures and that is a flesh nature and a spiritual nature.  Therefore, he can bring forth two types of fruit, both evil and good.

            The Pharisees and the Sadducees that came to John's baptism were only bringing forth evil fruit.  They were not showing the evidence of a repentant life.  Thus, John refused to baptize them.  Therefore, a person who comes seeking to press into the gospel kingdom through water baptism should manifest in his life that he has been born of the Spirit of God.  He does this through manifesting the fruits of the Spirit.

Chapter 3 Part 5 Baptism  of the Holy Ghost 

            Matt. 3:10 "And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

            We will deal with the baptism of the Holy Ghost in this part and deal with the baptism of fire in the next part. 

            Baptism by its very meaning means immersion.  Water baptism means to be immersed in water.  Thus, the baptism of the Holy Ghost means to be immersed in the Holy Ghost.  Likewise, the baptism of fire means to be immersed in fire.  John foretold of one that was coming who would baptize with the Holy Ghost and would baptize with fire.  That one that John was speaking about was Jesus Christ. 

            There are Old Testament types of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  When Moses and the children of Israel had constructed the tabernacle and its furniture and all the things associated with it according to the pattern that God had given Moses in the mount, God visited the tabernacle in a very special way: Ex. 40:33 "And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35  And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle."  Notice that the cloud covered the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.  This was a total immersion of the tabernacle by the glory of the Lord.

            We find a similar thing when the temple was constructed and completed:

            1.  1 Kings 8:10 "And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD."

            2.  2 Chron. 7:1 "Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house." 

Again we see the glory of the Lord filling the house after that the construction was complete.

            In addition, Ezekiel had a vision of a house and writes what he saw concerning that house in his vision:

            1.  Ezek. 43:4 "And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. 5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house." 

Ezek. 44:4 "Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face."

            In all three examples above, the buildings were completed prior to the immersion of those structures by the glory of the Lord.  This immersion by the glory of the Lord sets forth that God was pleased with the structures and that he manifested his pleasure by immersing them in the glory of the Lord.

            In the first chapter of Acts the Lord told the disciples prior to his ascension: Acts 1:5 "For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."  In other words, the baptism of the Holy Ghost would take place in a few days.  This took place on the day of Pentecost as we read in Acts 2:1 "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."  In this instance, there was no specific structure immersed, but rather the people (church) that was gathered together was filled and surrounded by the Holy Ghost.  This was the first episode of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  It was the baptism of the church with the Holy Ghost.

            Another episode of the baptism of the Holy Ghost is given to us in Acts chapters 10 and 11.  Peter had been sent by the Holy Ghost to a Gentile by the name of Cornelius.  We read in Acts 10:44 "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" 

            Peter further explained to us what happened on that day in the 11^th chapter: Acts 11:15 "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."  Peter declared that the Gentile believers were also baptized with the Holy Ghost.  Thus, we know that the church both among the Jews and among the Gentiles was complete and that God had manifested his pleasure with His church by immersing them in the Holy Ghost.